Kemp: Gop Must Become Friend Of Poor

March 16, 1986|By Harry Straight of The Sentinel Staff

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS — If Republicans are going to be America's majority party, they must attract the poor and working people and encourage inner-city development and tax reform, U.S. Rep. Jack Kemp said Saturday night at a political fund- raiser.

The Republican from Buffalo, N.Y., sounded almost like a Democrat at times with his praise of former President John F. Kennedy. But Kemp also pounded home the themes of supply-side economics that have made him a national political figure and a leading contender for the 1988 GOP presidential nomination.

With interest rates plunging and inflation at its lowest level in nearly a decade, Kemp has the satisfaction of seeing his preaching about the benefits of a free economy come to pass.

''I tell you, it's a lot easier being a supply-sider in 1986 than in 1982,'' when inflation and interest rates were in double digits.

Kemp was the prime House architect of the 1981 tax bill that cut rates by 25 percent over three years. And to him the economy is the most important issue that drives the political process.

Although many of Central Florida's party loyalists are longtime supporters of Vice President George Bush, the acknowledged front-runner to succeed President Reagan, Kemp was well received at the Seminole County Republican Executive Committee's annual Lincoln Day dinner.

County party chief Jim Weinburg said he expected to feed about 400 people at the Altamonte Hilton and to put about $16,000 into the party's coffers.

The 50-year-old former quarterback for the Buffalo Bills drew favorable comments from the audience with talk of reviving slums through less taxation and regulation and allowing residents of public housing projects to buy their homes, giving minorities a stake in capitalism.

In a presidential bid, Kemp would need to do well in Florida, whose March primary falls just after the early campaigns in Iowa, Michigan and New Hampshire.

He said he has made seven visits to Florida since January 1985, eight to Michigan, seven to Iowa and seven to New Hampshire.

Kemp flew back to New York Saturday night, but he will return to Florida Monday for a St. Patrick's Day dinner at Cypress Gardens for U.S. Rep. Andy Ireland, R-Winter Haven.